Support the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act

(Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, in most schools an underage child is prohibited from attending a school field trip without first obtaining parental authorization, yet nothing forbids this child from being taken across State lines in disregard of State laws for the purpose of undergoing a life-altering procedure, an abortion.

Please note these documents from a local school district in which it is required to have extensive information and parental authorization for a simple field trip or for a release for disbursement of medication, a total of eight pages for a field trip or for giving an aspirin, even brought from the child's home. But for an abortion, nothing is required.

My legislation, the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, CIANA, would make it a Federal offense to transport an underage child across State lines in circumvention of State and local parental notification laws for the purpose of having an abortion. It will also require that, in a State without a parental notification requirement, abortion providers be required to notify a parent.

Today, CIANA will be marked up by the House Committee on the Judiciary. I hope we can pass the bill in the House quickly to protect our underage girls.